Zviad Gogochuri wins Georgia’s first ever Paralympics gold

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s Zviad Gogochuri on Saturday took gold in the men’s 90kg judo competition at the Rio Paralympics.

This is the first gold by a Georgia athlete in the Paralympics since the country became independent in 1991.

In the final, Gogochuri faced off against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Nazarenko.

Before that, he defeated competitors from Argentina and the United States.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and President Giorgi Margvelashvili congratulated him and the Georgian people with the victory.

Five Georgian athletes are taking part in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. In addition to Gogochuri, they are: Akaki Jintcharadze in men’s powerlifting; Irma Khetsuriani in women’s wheelchair fencing; Lia Chachibaia in women’s swimming and Vano Tsiklauri in in men’s archery.